NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Congressman Anthony Weiner has hired an attorney in response to what some are calling “Weiner-gate” — the mystery of how a lewd photo that was sent from his Twitter account to a college student.

Congressman Weiner clearly did not want to discuss the issue anymore on Tuesday.

“You know, I’m not going to talk about this anymore. I know that if I was giving a speech to 45,000 people and someone stood up and heckled in the back I wouldn’t spend three days talking to him,” Weiner said.

“This is a distraction and I’m not going to let it distract me,” Weiner said.

The congressman’s office said he has hired a lawyer to help him decide whether he should pursue criminal or civil actions against the “hacker.”

But there are questions he refuses to answer — like why he was following the 20-year-old coed on Twitter in the first place.

When asked just that, Weiner brushed it off.

“I appreciate the questions, but, um, I understand you’re doing your job, but this is now a couple of days later. I’ve got to get back to work,” the congressman said.

Some of Weiner’s constituents think it’s a dirty trick hatched by people who want to hurt his chances to become the city’s next mayor.

“I, personally, do think it’s a prank. I mean this guy’s in the limelight all the time. No one could be that stupid and put stuff on the Internet where everybody could see it,” Midwood resident Jeff Saunders said.

But then there is another viewpoint.

“I think there’s probably something to it. I think he’s trying to cover up something, because he hired an attorney. I mean if there’s nothing to hide why hire an attorney?” said Joseph Abrams of Midwood.

The coed in question categorically has categorically denied having an affair with Weiner and said her life has been “seriously impacted by speculation and faulty allegations.”

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